


Harry Potter Sets Kreacher Free

by Realsupergirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21820456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Realsupergirl/pseuds/Realsupergirl
Summary: Imagining what Harry would do in terms of his "ownership" of the house elf he inherited from Sirius Black.
Relationships: Kreacher & Harry Potter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	Harry Potter Sets Kreacher Free

Harry Potter Sets Kreacher Free

“Kreacher!”  
CRACK. The house elf appeared by Harry’s side, looking cleaner and more content than he’d appeared in decades. In the months since Harry, Ron, and Hermione had left 12 Grimmauld Place and not come back, Kreacher had decided he would continue his meal planning and deep cleaning, just in case they came back. It had been a long time since anyone had cared enough about him or this house to appreciate the upkeep, and it felt good to be doing it. Certainly Sirius had never cared about it, he seemed to be in even more disarray than Kreacher was himself.  
“Yes, Master Potter?” Kreacher smiled at him.  
“I would like to present you with clothes. Specifically, this sweater I found. It used to belong to Master Regulus.  
“Clothes, Master Potter?” Kreacher felt a strange sensation, his eyes started to feel stingy and watery, he was most unfamiliar with this unpleasant feeling.  
“Yes. Kreacher, are you OK?”  
“Is Master Potter rejecting me? Have I displeased you?” Kreacher’s voice wavered, he tried to get a hold of himself.  
“No!” Harry looked aghast. “Kreacher, you’ve been great! You were brilliant in the Battle of Hogwarts! This is my way to repay you.”  
“Repay me, sir?” Kreacher looked confused. “What does that mean?”  
“It means – ugh. Ron said you might not take this well. Do you know of Dobby the Free Elf, Kreacher?” Harry asked.  
“I have heard of him. Winky told me he was most unhappy. She is most unhappy, herself. I was afraid she might intentionally try to hurt herself when she joined us in battle.”  
“How is she doing now?” Harry asked.  
Kreacher cocked his head to one side. It was most unusual to hear a wizard asking this question about another house elf.  
“She is doing better, Master Potter.”  
Harry held out a rumpled up sweater. Kreacher recoiled.  
“Master, no – “ Kreacher felt the stingy sensation in his eyes.  
“Kreacher, it is not because I do not like you. I would welcome you to stay on in the home I have set up with Ron and Ginny and Hermione. But we would pay you. You would be free to come and go.  
“P-p-pay me?” Kreacher asked. “What does that mean?”  
“It means…it means we would give you gold in exchange for your service. You would be free to spend it on what you like. And you would not have to work all the time.”  
“This is very strange, Master Potter. This is not how wizards do things.”  
“I know, Kreacher. But the way wizards have treated you…it has not been fair.”  
Kreacher thought about this. He often felt an unspeakable rage toward Master Sirius, even his mother. They were so unpredictable and cruel at times, yet he felt bad that he had felt so angry at them, ashamed of his dark and violent fantasies at times. But it had never occurred ot him there was another way.  
“I do not wish to leave 12 Grimmauld Place, Master Potter. But I do not wish to leave you, either,” Kreacher said.  
“You can stay where you are. If you want, you will be a free elf, who will come to work every day here. In this home. And then you can go back to your home when you are done.”  
“I would live in Grimmauld Place by myself? Without you? Without another wizard?” Kreacher’s eyes grew to twice their normal size.  
“Would that work for you?” Harry Potter asked.  
Kreacher considered. It sounded…not so bad. He reached out his long spindly fingers and felt the fabric of the sweater Harry was still holding.  
“I accept, Harry Potter. I accept.” He felt the sweater release into his hand, part of it touched the floor but Kreacher gripped it in his fingers tightly.


End file.
